


The Scars from Childhood

by jamespadfoot



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M, cs angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-06
Updated: 2015-05-06
Packaged: 2018-03-29 06:51:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 560
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3886465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jamespadfoot/pseuds/jamespadfoot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Your father is a jerk,” she says rather empathically, “for even insinuating what he did, but he did it to get under your skin. Killian, don’t you think you’re just a bit like my father?”</p><p>_________________________________________________________________</p><p>When the scars from childhood are pried open, it's hard to keep the fear, bitterness and anger at bay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Scars from Childhood

There are tears in his eyes, voice ragged and face angry as he tries to direct his thoughts.  ****

“Did you know, Swan?” he asks, and he can see the pity in her eyes, her own green close to tears. “Elizabeth, her name was Elizabeth. Swann.” 

“Killian…”

“I didn’t know! I fell in love with you the moment I saw you, and I’d do it all over again, but I didn’t know.”

She moves towards him, her hands cupping his jaw gently, and he lets her, closing his eyes as the tears fall. 

“I don’t even remember her face, Emma,” he whispers as he buries his face in her neck, the guilt of being a less than dutiful son haunting him. 

“Killian, sweetheart,” she says, and she rarely uses endearments on him that it stings, this pity he can feel emanating from her, “is it truly an insult?”

He stills, trying to process what she means, before pulling away slightly, still keeping her in the circle of his arms. 

“What?”

“You fell in love with a woman who shares the same maiden name as your mother, of blonde hair and green eyes, and a bit of a temper but is it truly an insult? I know I could never–”

“Swan,” he interrupts her, horrified that she’d think she wasn’t good enough, “it’s just what he said. The way he said it.”

“Your father is a  _jerk,_ ” she says rather empathically, “for even insinuating what he did, but he did it to get under your skin. Killian, don’t you think you’re just a bit like my father?”

He is sure his eyebrow raises as he grimaces, the thought too horrifying to imagine. 

“Swan, I assure you–”

“Shut up, I don’t mean  _that_. I mean, you’re brave, and dedicated, and loyal,” and he swears his heart seizes because they’ve said the words, words he’s always known but loves to hear, but to hear her wax off his qualities is an entirely different matter, “and,” she continues with steel of breath, “you’ll do whatever it takes to keep your family happy and safe.” 

The word family is not lost on him, her implication clear, making the tears (he’s not an enemy of a man’s tears, but even he’s got to admit she’s made him a wee bit soft) rise again.

“You’ve… you’ve done so much for  _me,_ Killian, and if that makes you a bit like my dad, than I’m glad.”

“Well,” he says, fighting the roughness of his voice, “Dave’s a bit of a ponce, but he’s alright where it matters.”

 “There’s a saying, actually, here, that we all fall in love a little with people who remind us of our parents. It’s not always a bad thing.” 

“No, Swan, it isn’t,” he agrees, kissing her forehead and then bringing their clasped fingers to his lips so he can place another to the back of her palm. 

So Davy Jones is back from the locker being an absolute piss arse, and he may have just found out of his mother’s origins ( _Pirate King Elizabeth Swann,_ that _is something that’s going to take a while to wrap around_ ), but his love is in his arms, and perhaps they’re all doomed to revisit the steps of their parents, for better or for worse, but as long as Emma is by his side, he’ll take it. 

**Author's Note:**

> This short little piece was inspired by a post on Tumblr (@fandomflail) about delicious irony if Killian's mother was actually a Pirate Queen.


End file.
